Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Leonardo.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Leonardoxe2x80x99.
The new Kalanchoe is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Bromo, not patented. The cultivar Leonardo was discovered and selected in March, 1999 as a flowering plant within a population of plants of the cultivar Bromo in a controlled environment in Svegin, Sweden.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal vegetative cuttings taken at De Lier, The Netherlands, since 2000 has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Leonardo has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Leonardoxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Leonardoxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Numerous double red purple-colored flowers.
2. Upright, uniform and compact plant habit.
3. Freely branching growth habit.
4. Dark green glossy leaves.
5. Early flowering.
6. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe are most similar to plants of the parent, the cultivar Bromo. However, plants of the new Kalanchoe differ from plants of the cultivar Bromo primarily in flower form as plants of the new Kalanchoe have double flowers with more than one row of petals per flower whereas plants of the cultivar Bromo have single flowers with one row of four petals per flower.